I focus almost exclusively on PvP, whether solo, small gang, or large bloc warfare. In the past, I've been a miner, mission runner, and faction warfare jockey. I'm particularly interested in helping high-sec players get into 0.0 combat.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Lessons: First Impressions

You can’t make a first impression twice.It’s an old adage, and one that’s absolutely
true when it comes to Eve.

After a few days of trying to find the right WH, I finally
managed to find a route.In went my
carrier, with all my goodies for WH life.I had been listening to ops on comms for a few days, and while it
definitely helped me gain a feel for how my new corp rolled, it also frustrated
me that I couldn’t join in the mayhem.Listening to them dunk fleet after fleet, while not being there, was
frustrating.

But now, I’m here.So
I went on an inaugural roam with my two characters, looking for some
trouble.

The Appetizer

Being a former null-sec guy, I decided to go through a null
hole, and found myself in VI2K-J in Vale.To my great surprise, I found a neutral in system running a data
site.A moment after I identified the
sig he was sitting in, he cloaked, so I dutifully finished probing down the
site, bookmarked it, and moved on further down the pipe.

On the way, I saw a couple ratters and a dead-end system
with 32 Retrievers, Mackinaws, and an Orca protected by forty anchored bubbles
surrounding the only gate.

Yes, forty.40.I burned through and observed them at their
POS for a while, only to see 32 pilots all sitting completely still.A quick check of dotlan told me the whole
area was a bust, so I started to head back.

As I returned to VI2K-J, I began to warp to the wormhole
instinctively, but on second thought, I stopped my warp and headed to the data
site again, and I’m glad I did.

Typically, it’s impossible to catch an Astero because of its
cloak.If a hostile enters system, the
pilot can simply burn off in a random direction and cloak up.

But the hacking minigame takes up a lot of desktop space,
and it’s really easy to focus on those little nodes instead of a new pilot in
local.And I suspect that’s exactly what
happened.It cost him about two hundred
million.

If you’re going to run data and relic sites in null-sec,
it’s very important to arrange your windows so you can immediately see any new
neutrals entering local.I personally
clear my local chat so I can more easily see any changes to that window.Even if you avoid a hunter once, keep in mind
that he will most likely circle back during his exit route.The hacking game isn’t time-intensive until
you successfully complete it… don’t get so caught up in those little nodes that
you forget the basics of null-sec travel.Watch local, have an escape plan, value safety when you don’t have any
guns.

In low-sec, which often already has multiple pilots in
system, you need to continuously dscan.An Interceptor can kill an Astero eventually, and they move
frighteningly fast.Select a note, then
dscan.Select another, then dscan.Get into that habit and you can give yourself
as much notice as possible to safe up when a short scan reveals an incoming
ship.

The Entree

Having stretched my legs and enjoyed a little of the good WH
benefit of appearing suddenly, I headed back home, but my trip back was cut
short by the discovery of a 7-man fleet working the sites in our static.

Sky Fighters forms up very quickly, so I reported the gang
in corp, and we quickly put together a nice gang as I kept eyes on the
ratters.I was about 180 km off with
sleepers on the field as my fleet landed on the other side of the connecting
WH.Instead of endangering my own ship,
though, I simply waited for them to kill a rat, created a corp bookmark of the
location – conveniently located amid all their ships – and called in the
cavalry.

In the melee that followed, we managed to avoid attracting
sleeper damage until the very end, when the rats instapopped our Falcon.Other than that, though, it was a complete victory.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad way to introduce myself to my
new corp.A find like that, worth about
two billion isk, is why I decided to head to WH space.A small gang, a fast form-up, and a deadly
result.What more could you ask for?

Primary. appear to be low-sec residents, who obviously
aren’t well-versed with the particular nature of wormholes.They quite simply forgot to check dscan.We weren’t cloaked when we warped in – the
majority of us didn’t even have cloaks – and could have been avoided by a wary
gang.But while they may have started by
checking dscan regularly, as the sleepers came in fast and hard, they started
to take damage, the Scimitars had to focus on repping their fleet mates, the
Drakes were worried about killing the BS rats quickly, and the unfamiliar
repetitive tasks – checking dscan – were forgotten.

And that’s a component of “home field advantage” or, more to
the point, fighting in unfamiliar territory.An alliance that frequently traverses low-sec will be much more familiar
with aggression mechanics in that area of space, suspect timers, and limited
engagements than a null-sec alliance.A
wormhole corp will know how to safely farm a site, whereas a null-sec alliance
will forget some of the basic safety steps needed to survive.

Ultimately, it’s not enough to simply know the rules.You need to practice the rules until they
become second nature.That’s the real
reason a well-traveled 3-year pilot will do better than a 7-year old pilot who
has spent all his time in high-sec.It’s
why a member of a pirate corp will be a better pilot than someone whose entire
PvP experience has been in a fleet blob.It’s not the quantity of experience you have, but the quality and variety.

Consider your flying and ask yourself one question: Am I making
myself better, or hiding behind the familiar?If you want to simply enjoy the experience, that’s one thing.But if you want to improve, you need to put
yourself on unfamiliar footing.Consider
how long you intend to play the game… is it long enough to warrant several
months of discomfort?

When you know that, you’ll know the kind of experience
you’re looking for.

Bringing It Home

So, I’d say I made a pretty good first impression, which
hopefully will be reinforced by my eagerness, willingness to go all-in with WH
life, and fleet performance.But, just
as importantly, Sky Fighters made a great first impression with me, too. Their
form-up was fast, the pilots knew what they were doing, and at no point did the
FC nor the members demonstrate anything less than absolute
professionalism.We were actually
planning to head out with about half our numbers, but as pilots logged in (yes,
that form-up time also included time for pilots to log in, and it was still
lightning-fast) everyone joined the action.Both that willingness to fight slightly outnumbered initially and the
eagerness among pilots for PvP action seem to validate my decision to join
them.

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